Some residents shed tears after the wafa-wafas failed to deal with Maqobola and his alleged gang after a battle spanning about nine hours.

Goblins have, since 2015, been allegedly tormenting residents living in the Garikai section of Cowdray Park by stoning their houses or anyone who walks in the streets at night and “raping” women.

Thabisani Ngwenya

In October last year, Cowdray Park residents were relieved after a prophet, Lazarus Siziba destroyed a goblin named ‘Ernest Ndlovu.’

However, the peace was short-lived as Maqobola surfaced this year and forced some residents to flee their houses after allegedly vandalising their property.

The attacks are said to be happening at anytime of the day, with most of the action occurring at night.

Five women have reported the incidents at Luveve Police Station under RRB number 3270731.

“Prophets hired from South Africa on Monday failed to destroy the goblins and fled from the scene without solving anything,” a resident said yesterday.

Residents have since hired prophet Siziba who destroyed Ernest Ndlovu to help destroy the goblins.

When a Chronicle news crew visited the suburb yesterday, inexplicable banging sounds were heard on the roofs and walls, with residents alleging that it was the goblins.

Some were dodging stones but no one could tell the direction they were coming from.

In the afternoon tempers flared as residents gathered with the hope that a cleansing ceremony would be conducted by prophet Siziba since the South Africans had failed.

Prophet Siziba said he would cleanse the area this morning after an all-night vigil of prayer and singing.

“I will have a vigil with a few interested residents as we try to trap these goblins and consult the spirit. Tomorrow (today) morning we will then perform a ceremony to destroy the goblins so that people may live peacefully,” he said.

Residents who spoke to The Chronicle said the globins resurfaced on May 17.

councilor Collet Ndlovu

“It all started on May 17; at first we thought it was children playing outside who were throwing stones but at night the sounds continued. Our asbestos sheets are being damaged and our windows are broken by the goblins. In some houses you find a huge stone inside even if doors were locked and we always wondered where they were coming from,” said Mr Thabisani Ngwenya.

Women said they were not at peace as the goblins were taking turns to “have sex with them.”

“I have known no peace in my life. Every night the goblins have sex with me. I can actually feel the penetration but cannot tell where it will be coming from. I have had to flee my house late in the night to consult prophets for help,” said a woman who cannot be named for ethical reasons.

She said the goblin would at times sodomise her.

Some residents said food was mysteriously disappearing and their children cried non-stop every night.

“In some cases our food disappears and we cannot tell where the food is gone. For example, the mealie meal I usually buy to last us more than two weeks now lasts less than that. We need people to help us cleanse this place. We don’t have peace in our homes. Our children cry every night for no reason,” said another resident who preferred anonymity.

The residents’ association chairman Mr Johannes Nyoni said the ‘fake’ prophets who were hired from South Africa on Monday failed to destroy the goblins and fled from the scene after falsely accusing a number of residents of being the owners of the goblins.

“The prophets who came here seem to have been after money. They kept pointing to people’s houses claiming that’s where the goblins where but when we got to the houses nothing was found. An altercation ensued between one of the men who was said to have goblins and the prophet when they found nothing at his house,” he said.

“The prophets ended up leaving without even doing anything as the goblin kept attacking people even during the cleansing ceremony.”

Cowdray Park Councillor, Collet Ndhlovu said residents had contributed money to hire the South Africans to cleanse the area.

“Each household contributed $1 for us to hire ‘wafa-wafas’ (also known as tsikamutandas) to try and find a solution to our problem. We hired a number of them, with some coming from South Africa and some from Kezi but they failed,” he said.

He said Siziba was suitable for the cleansing as he had experience in destroying goblins. The Chronicle